Increased TGF-β and BMP Levels and Improved Chondrocyte-Specific Marker Expression In Vitro under Cartilage-Specific Physiological Osmolarity

During standard expansion culture (i.e., plasma osmolarity, 280 mOsm) human articular chondrocytes dedifferentiate, making them inappropriate for autologous chondrocyte implantation to treat cartilage defects. Increasing the osmolarity of culture media to physiological osmolarity levels of cartilage (i.e., 380 mOsm), increases collagen type...

Effects of Osmolarity on Osteoarthritic Human Articular Cartilage

Chondrocyte is the only cell type which constitutes the articular cartilage, is solely responsible for the turnover of extracellular matrix composed of proteoglycans, type II collagen and water. Chondrocytes experience a unique ionic/osmotic environment, which is attributable to the polyanionic proteoglycan, which carry a high fixed negative...